There has been a need for reliable, light-weight devices to provide illumination for use by individuals in order to read or perform work at night or when situated in locations such as in tunnels, caves and the like where insufficient light is available. Such lighting devices have both civilian and military applications, and various personal lighting devices have been proposed. These include devices that can be fastened to headgear, to belts or straps, to articles of clothing, to weapons, and to surfaces of other articles.
In military applications, especially in combat, it can be important for an individual to avoid revealing his or her location inadvertently to an enemy combatant. Consequently, there is also a need for a lighting device that can be disabled by the user and in which accidental activation is reliably prevented.
In military and other applications, it is also very desirable for the personal lighting device to be readily attached to, and detached from, a helmet or other article, and to be at the same time compact and not easily dislodged or damaged by accidental contact with other objects.
In some applications of a personal lighting device it is also desirable to provide for a moisture-tight, but easily operated, closure on the device's battery compartment.